Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Development Aid: Nature Conservation

The Lord Bishop of Norwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Official Development Assistance has been spent on ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration and tree planting internationally in the last five years, and what proportion of Official DevelopmentAssistance is forecast to be spent in these areas in the next budget period.

Lord Benyon: Over the last five years (2018/19 - 2022/23) the UK spent £1,397 million of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on programmes that protected and restored nature, including £865 million specifically targeting forests. Between 2021/22 and 2025/26 the UK has pledged to spend at least £3 billion of our International Climate Finance (ICF) on restoring and protecting nature, including £1.5 billion on forests. Our latest results [UK International Climate Finance results 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)]show that between 2011 and 2023 UK ICF has avoided 413,000 hectares of ecosystem loss, and generated or protected ecosystem services valued at £5,302,000.

Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ratify the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions; when they expect to be able to ratify the Agreement; and what discussions they have had with international partnersto encourage other countries to ratify it.

Lord Benyon: Work is in hand on the legislation and other measures needed to translate the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (the BBNJ Agreement) into UK law before we can ratify the Agreement. Legislation will be taken forward when parliamentary time allows.The UK continues to be proactive in supporting other, particularly developing, countries to implement and ratify the BBNJ Agreement. This includes contributing to the BBNJ Voluntary Trust Fund to enable participation by developing countries in UN discussions on preparatory work, and supporting the BBNJ Informal Dialogues, discussions that bring together participants from a wide range of countries online to discuss implementation. The UK also co-funded and organised a workshop for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to share best practice and support the implementation and ratification of the BBNJ Agreement in the Philippines in November 2023. The UK is supporting a Commonwealth Secretariat project to provide technical assistance on implementation and ratification to smaller Commonwealth countries.

Diplomatic Relations

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany countries the UK has permanent diplomatic representation in.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK has diplomatic representation present in 160 countries recognised by the UK Government. This number periodically changes for political and operational reasons. It excludes countries in which we have closed or temporarily suspended a Post in country, which may operate elsewhere. The UK also has representation present in 15 territories, which includes 12 UK Overseas Territories.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) publishes a full list of locations where the UK has a diplomatic presence on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-foreign-office-posts. This list is regularly updated.

Diplomatic Relations

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government in whichcountries the UK does not have a permanent diplomatic presence.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has a network of 281 officially designated overseas Posts. It does not currently have a permanent diplomatic presence in the countries listed below. However, the list includes countries in which we have officially designated Posts which are temporarily suspended in country and our mission to that country operates elsewhere for political or operational reasons (Afghanistan, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Yemen) or have diplomatic staff who are not in permanent residence (Haiti, Burundi, Gabon). Locations defined as UK territories are excluded. Information about the FCDO overseas network is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-foreign-office-posts.Afghanistan(1)AndorraBeninBhutanBurkina FasoBurundi(2)Cape VerdeCentral African RepublicComorosCongoDominicaEast TimorEquatorial GuineaGabon(2)Guinea-BissauHaiti(2)HondurasKiribatiLiechtensteinMarshall IslandsFederated States of MicronesiaMonacoNauruNicaraguaNorth Korea(1)PalauSt Kitts and NevisSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSudan(1)SurinameSyria(1)TogoTuvaluYemen(1)Key:(1) Temporarily suspended(2) Diplomats not in permanent residence

Iran: Baha'i Faith

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of the seizure of 100 hectares of land belonging to Baha’i farmers by agents of the Iranian state in the Province of Mazandaran in January; and what steps they are taking to raise this matter through bilateral or multilateral means.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have madeof the persecution of members of the Baha’i community, including of reports of the expropriation of farming land in Mazandaran Province; and what assessment they have made of the impact of these actions on this community.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK condemns the continued persecution of religious minorities in Iran and we are aware of recent reports of land expropriation discriminately targeting the Baha'i community. At the 78th UN General Assembly, we co-sponsored the Iran Human Rights Resolution calling for Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination on the basis of thought, conscience, religion or belief. We are committed to promoting religious freedom and will continue to work with partners and the UK Baha'i community to hold the Iranian authorities to account.

Diplomatic Relations

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government how many countries have permanent diplomatic representation in the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes details of foreign embassies, high commissions and consulates in the UK on gov.uk, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-embassies-in-the-uk.This page includes the London Diplomatic List (LDL), which contains details of all embassies and high commissions, as well as the names of heads of mission and other diplomatic agents appointed in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The LDL lists 169 diplomatic missions with their permanent seat in the UK. 17 countries have non-resident diplomatic representation to the UK. Nine countries are represented by an Honorary Consul.

British Nationals Abroad: Hostage Taking

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to implement the recommendation by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee in its report, Stolen years: combatting state hostage diplomacy, published on 4 April 2023, that a position of Director for Arbitrary and Complex Detentions should be established.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The FCDO is committed to dedicating senior leadership and expertise in our approach to complex detention cases. We continue to believe that our current approach, led by the Foreign Secretary and his Ministers, and supported by senior officials and Heads of Mission, provides the most appropriate means for coordinating our case handling and responses to the most complex consular cases.

Diplomatic Relations

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government whichcountries do not have permanent diplomatic representation in the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes details of foreign embassies, high commissions and consulates in the UK on gov.uk, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-embassies-in-the-uk.This page includes the London Diplomatic List (LDL), which contains details of all embassies and high commissions, as well as the names of heads of mission and other diplomatic agents appointed in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The LDL lists 169 diplomatic missions with their permanent seat in the UK. 17 countries have non-resident diplomatic representation to the UK. Nine countries are represented by an Honorary Consul.Some countries do not have a UK diplomatic presence or Honorary Consul representation. The FCDO does not publish a complete list of countries without UK diplomatic representation as this information is publicly available by comparing the LDL against the official map of countries as recognised by the UN: https://www.un.org/geospatial/content/world-today.

Business: Human Rights

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to ensure that there islegal liability to provide effective remedies for all forms of human rights violations committed abroad bycorporations domiciled in the United Kingdom.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government has consistently supported the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and supports voluntary human rights due diligence approaches by UK businesses to respect human rights across their operations. In line with the Principles, the UK has a range of judicial and state-based, non-judicial mechanisms that help to support access to remedy for human rights abuses by UK business enterprises both in the UK and overseas. For example, the UK operates a National Contact Point to run a non-judicial grievance mechanism to assess alleged non-compliance with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, offering a platform for mediation and conciliation.

Israel: Palestinians

Baroness Helic: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of (1) the number of children injured in Israel and Palestine since 7 October 2023, and (2) the level of medical support available for children in Gaza.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are supporting NGO and UN partners to deliver medical aid and care in the Gaza Strip. This includes support for primary healthcare, trauma and emergency care services, disease surveillance and outbreak response, and deployment of Emergency Medical Teams. We have targeted support for children through our £5.75 million contribution to UNICEF.We are also exploring further options to help meet the medical needs of Palestinians.The early work we have done shows there is much we can do in the region, for example helping in the field hospitals that have been established, helping to send medical teams to referral hospitals in the region and supporting organisations such as Medical Aid for Palestinians.A shocking number of civilians including children, have been injured and killed in Gaza. We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.

Darfur: Armed Conflict

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made of the UN Security Council Panel of Experts of Sudan’s report on attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur,and in particular of anyrole of individuals among the RSF and alliesin those abuses.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what actionthey are taking, following the UN Security Council Panel of Experts on the Sudan’s report on the horrific attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur, concerning any charges being brought against Abdel Rahman Juma, the West Darfur RSF commander, concerning any involvement in abuses set out in the report.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made of allegations ofinternally displaced people in South Darfur being abused by the Rapid Support Forces, including allegations of rape, assault and looting; and what steps they are taking with international partners to provide (1) protection, and (2) collect and preserve evidence to bring charges against any perpetrators.

Lord Benyon: The UK condemns the continuing violence and suffering being wrought by the warring parties on the people of Sudan, including in Darfur. We welcome the UN Panel of Experts' report and look forward to its final publication. The UK remains committed to ensuring that those responsible for atrocities in Sudan are held to account. As well as the work of the UN Panel of Experts, we continue to support the essential work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR) and the International Criminal Court in investigating and documenting reports of atrocities. In addition, on 11 October, the Human Rights Council adopted the UK-led 'Sudan Core Group' resolution to establish an independent and international Fact-Finding Mission to ensure credible allegations of human rights violations and abuses in Sudan will be investigated impartially. The UK is also funding open-source investigation experts to use satellite imagery and social media to verify and preserve information relating to attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Sudan: Internally Displaced People

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any (1) any recent increase in the number of displaced persons fromSudan to the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile region, and (2) the impact on people inthat region from crop failures and locust infestations; and what consequences there have been for the delivery of humanitarian aid to that region.

Lord Benyon: Sudan currently represents the largest displacement crisis in the world, including almost 9 million people internally displaced. We don't hold data for more recent influxes or any data for the Nuba Mountain region, but as of 23 January, 127,119 people had fled to Blue Nile and 125,373 to South Kordofan since 15 April 2023. While we don't hold specific data on crop failures and locust infestations in those regions, we remain aware of acute food insecurity throughout Sudan. The UK calls on both the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to grant immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access and we condemn the continuing lack of access. The UK is providing assistance to those in need through our humanitarian aid package of £38 million, as well as £7.75 million in funding for South Sudan, which includes £3.5 million to address food security in the Maban refugee camps.

Tigray: Death

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Benyon on 9 February (HL1953), whether they will now answer the question put; namely,whatassessment they have made of reports bytheMekelle branch of the Ethiopian Ombudsman Institution on 24 January that in five camps of internally displaced people in Tigray, 900 had died due to starvation.

Lord Benyon: A press release relating to the Ombudsman's report was issued on 30 January. It did not state what evidence the Ombudsman team were basing their observations on or what methodology they had used to determine cause of death. We use all available data sources to assess the severity of food insecurity across northern Ethiopia. In his recent visit to Ethiopia in February 2024, Minister Andrew Mitchell saw firsthand the worsening humanitarian situation in Tigray and announced an additional £100 million to end preventable deaths, targeting three million people across Ethiopia including those who are most at risk in the northern regions.

Forced Marriage Unit: Training

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany professionals the Forced Marriage Unit delivered training to in 2023; and how many people took the Forced Marriage Unit’s “Awareness of Forced Marriage” free online course in 2023.

Lord Benyon: In 2023, the Forced Marriage Unit delivered training to a total of 3657 professionals through their bespoke training and workshops.We currently do not have the figure for how many people took the free online course in 2023 - these will be released in due course. In 2022, 5,029 people from a wide range of professions took the Government's "Awareness of Forced Marriage" free online course.

Africa: Abortion

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 9February (HL1962),why they do not track and disaggregate discrete spend for abortion services,as part ofthe wider package of women's healthcare, in respect of development monies disbursed in Africa.

Lord Benyon: The UK has a strong portfolio of Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) programming globally, which includes abortion services. We report our spend, according to the OECD Development and Assistance Committee (DAC) sector codes, in our annual Statistics on International Development publications [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development].Comprehensive SRHR spend spans across various OECD DAC codes and we do not record data for SRHR services separately. Some civil society partners have developed methodologies to provide an estimate of the UK's SRHR spend.Individual FCDO programmes record deliverables and results on SRHR. This data along with individual programme finances can be found on the Devtracker website: [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/.] SRHR results are likely to be reported as a comprehensive service against sector approved indicators and metrics, rather than for individual services such as abortion.

Department for Business and Trade

Trade Agreements: India

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to ensure that the potential trade agreement with India (1) promotes fair and balanced terms, and (2) contains safeguards that protect the interest of the economy.

Lord Offord of Garvel: We are working hard on a deal with India that would boost our current trading relationship, already worth over £38 billion, helping businesses and communities across the UK. We remain clear that we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, reciprocal, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy. We ensure that all trade agreements maintain our ability to apply trade remedies, including a global safeguard, under the WTO framework to protect UK industries.

Protective Clothing: Manufacturing Industries

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with producers of personal protective equipment regarding regulatory or technological solutions to the issue of short use-by dates for such equipment.

Lord Offord of Garvel: The Personal Protective Equipment Regulation 2016/425 sets out essential safety requirements that PPE must meet. This includes an obligation on the manufacturer to give, if possible, the month and year of obsolescence, if it is known that the design performance may be significantly affected by ageing. The Government has had no discussions with PPE producers about changing this requirement in the Regulation, but welcomes new technological innovation to improve short PPE use-by dates.

Horizon IT System

Lord Sikka: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Post Office entered into a standstill agreement with Fujitsu over the flaws found in the Horizon IT system.

Lord Sikka: To ask His Majesty's Government whether all the flaws in the Horizon IT system operated by the Post Office and referred to in the High Court judgement in Alan Bates and Others v Post Office Limited [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB) have since been rectified.

Lord Offord of Garvel: There have been several versions of Horizon since its introduction in 1999 and the current version of the system, introduced from 2017, was found in the Group Litigation to be reliable, relative to comparable systems. Post Office continue to make improvements to the system and will be moving away from Horizon to a new IT system. The Government is providing funding to support this programme. In the meantime, Horizon remains in place. Fujitsu's role in the Horizon scandal is one of the issues being examined by the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Post Office Limited has entered into a standstill agreement with Fujitsu.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Domestic Waste: Waste Management

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of household waste and recycling centre closures on incidences of fly-tipping.

Lord Douglas-Miller: We have previously commissioned research into the drivers, deterrents and impacts of fly-tipping that suggested any friction in the system relating to the use of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs), which have negative impacts on cost or convenience, can act as provocations for normally law-abiding people or businesses to fly-tip or give their waste to someone who goes on to fly-tip. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires waste disposal authorities to provide places for residents to deposit household waste. It is a Local Authority responsibility to manage suitable availability.

Domestic Waste: Waste Management

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government how many household waste and recycling centres have closed since January 2023because of budgetary constraints of local authorities.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The Government does not have detailed information on decisions behind local authority service implementation. Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) are an important service to help ensure residents can dispose of waste in a responsible manner and we encourage local authorities to ensure appropriate provisions are made.

Domestic Waste: Waste Management

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to encourage local councils to replicate the 'mega skip' days run by Wandsworth Council to reduce incidences of fly-tipping.

Lord Douglas-Miller: Across two rounds of our fly-tipping grant scheme we have awarded nearly £1.2m to help councils across the country introduce interventions to tackle fly-tipping hotspots. Successful projects have included community or ‘waste amnesty’ days. A selection of case studies from completed projects are available online so that others can learn about those interventions which were most successful. These can be found at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tipping-intervention-grant-scheme. We are currently reviewing applications for a further round of grants, which could see an additional £1m handed out in the spring to help even more councils tackle the issue.

Ash Dieback Disease

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of ash trees infected with the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus in the year 2023.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The Government does not collect data on the number of individual ash trees that have become infected with ash dieback, but the disease is now present in all counties and is predicted to kill over 100 million trees in the UK. Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is spread via spores which can spread for considerable distances in the wind before infecting another ash tree. This means it is not possible to limit the spread of the disease. Some local authorities conduct annual surveys of ash trees to track local spread and decline and inform their management strategies. In most areas, a majority of ash trees are now expected to be infected, but the response of individual ash trees to infection is highly variable. The most susceptible trees often die within a few years and the most resistant trees may show little damage and sometimes signs of recovery between years. The severity and impact of the disease at a local level also varies by tree age and condition, climate, the presence of secondary pathogens and other environmental factors. From observations in Europe and the UK, we expect a minimum of 1-5% of ash trees to be naturally resistant to the disease. Resistance is heritable which offers hope for a future breeding programme and Defra is investing in R&D to support this.

Deer and Squirrels: Conservation

The Earl of Caithness: To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards their national deer management strategy and their updated Grey Squirrel Action Plan, as committed to in the England Trees Action Plan 2021–2024, and when is the publication date.

Lord Benyon: We held a public consultation on key proposals for the English deer management strategy in 2022. Consultation responses have been collated, analysed and fed into the development of the deer management strategy. We are also working to refresh the Grey Squirrel Action Plan. It is our intention to publish them as soon as we are in a position to do so.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Communication

Lord Birt: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the account of the workings of the communications function across Government set out in the chapter entitled “Government (Mis)Communications” in Dame Kate Bingham’s bookThe Long Shot.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: During a crisis, effective communication is essential. As public bodies we must be the source of accurate, relevant and timely information. The Government Communication Service has recently published a new operating model for Crisis Communications to ensure that we learn lessons from previous experiences, including the UK’s Covid response. This sets out clear guidelines for preparing for, responding to and recovering from crises. Our response to emergencies are kept under constant review.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Visual Arts: Income

Lord Freyberg: To ask His Majesty's Government how the Department of Culture, Media and Sport captures information about visual artists’ overall income when they derive their main income from sources other than their artistic endeavours.

Lord Freyberg: To ask His Majesty's Government how the Department of Culture, Media and Sport distinguishes and accounts for different income scenarios when collecting and analysing data related to visual artists, for example, wherethe artists derive their main income from sources other than their artistic endeavours.

Lord Freyberg: To ask His Majesty's Government how the Department of Culture, Media and Sport ensures accuracy and comprehensiveness in capturing the financial details of visual artists who may have diverse income streams.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) publishes official statistics on earnings in the sectors and occupations for which it has policy responsibility. These statistics focus on how much is earned by an individual in a particular job, rather than providing information on an individuals’ total earnings.We publish the following estimates of earnings:Based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS)’s Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, we publish median annual and weekly earnings for any job in a DCMS sector. This would include anyone working in, for example, the cultural subsector of ‘Arts’ and the creative industries subsector ‘Music, performing and visual arts’. Earnings of visual artists who are self-employed or who work in industries outside these statistics would not be captured in these earnings estimates.Based on ONS’s Annual Population Survey, we publish hourly gross pay estimates for any self-identified main job in a DCMS sector. Using the same data source, we also publish hourly gross pay estimates for any self-identified main job in a DCMS creative occupation. This would include, for example, Artists (SOC 3411) and Graphic Designers (SOC 3421).We recently asked users of our statistics for feedback on these estimates and are considering our plans for these publications in the future.

Department for Education

Personal Care Services: T-levels

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessmentthey havemade of the cost in time and resources to schools and colleges in preparing for the aborted T- levels in hairdressing and barbering.

Baroness Barran: The department wrote to all T Level providers in January informing them that a combined T Level in Hairdressing, Barbering and Beauty Therapy (HBBT) would no longer be introduced. This decision was taken following discussions with employers and representatives of the hair and beauty sector.The time and resources spent in preparing for the introduction of this T Level will vary from provider to provider. To minimise any impacts, the department is allowing providers who have received capital funding for specialist equipment and/or buildings and facilities improvement relating to HBBT, to retain these grants to be used for future courses in this subject area.Providers will receive the normal 16-19 funding for their students, and this can be used to support those who switch to alternative Level 3 courses.

Universities: Research

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any risk to the UK's status as a location for research presented by the planned closure of the anthropology department of the University of Kent, particularly with regard to ethnobotany; and what broader assessment they have made of any risk posed by the closure of significant numbers of departments and faculties at universities.

Baroness Barran: Higher education providers are independent, autonomous institutions and are best placed to make decisions about the future focus of their research and their institutional strategy. Where it is necessary to reshape their activities, it is important that universities carefully consider the impact of job losses on staff and students, and the overall sustainability of teaching and research in this country.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Regional Planning and Development

Lord Young of Cookham: To ask His Majesty's Government how many responses they received to the consultation on street vote development orders, which ran from 22 December 2023 to 2 February 2024.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Over 250 responses were received, and they are currently being analysed.

Lighting: Pollution

Lord Patten: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have madeof the efficacy of current planning legislation in limiting light pollution of the night skies in England.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The National Planning Policy Framework states that planning policies and decisions should “limit the impact of light pollution from artificial light on local amenity, intrinsically dark landscapes and nature conservation.”The character of the area and the surrounding environment is already a material consideration about what will be considered an appropriate level of lighting for a development. This applies to both new housing and new commercial developments.

Joint Ministerial Committee

Lord Empey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the operation and effectiveness of the Joint Ministerial Committee.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The system of Joint Ministerial Committees (JMCs) was replaced as part of the 2022 Review of Intergovernmental Relations. The structures which replace the JMCs provide a more flexible and fit-for-purpose approach with department-led Interministerial Groups overseen by an Interministerial Standing Committee, and, ultimately, a Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council.Since the 2022 Review, there have been almost 500 intergovernmental ministerial meetings. Ensuring the structures work effectively is the joint responsibility of UK Government and the devolved governments. The UK Government monitors the effectiveness of engagement including through quarterly and end of year transparency reports, published on GOV.UK.Intergovernmental Relations (pdf, 2311.8KB)

Northern Ireland Office

UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government, followingpublication of the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper (CP 1021) on 31 January,when they intend to introduce legislation to fulfil the commitment in that paper to repeal all statutory duties relating to the 'all-island economy'.

Lord Caine: I would refer the Noble Baroness to the answer I gave to Lord Dodds of Duncairn in response to WPQ UIN HL2621 on 23 February 2024.

Department for Transport

Aviation: Fuels

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to their consultation on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate published on 30 March 2023; whether it is still their policy to have five SAF plants under construction by 2025; and, if so, what is their progress towards meeting that target.

Lord Davies of Gower: The Government is on track to introduce the UK sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) mandate in 2025, with a target of at least 10% SAF in UK jet fuel by 2030. We will publish the government response to the second mandate consultation, setting out our final policy positions, in the Spring.There are currently two commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plants operational or under construction in the UK. The Government’s Advanced Fuels Fund has allocated £135m across 13 projects to supporting our aim to have at least five commercial SAF plants under construction in the UK by 2025.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what conversations Ministers and officials have had with local authorities which have published local guidance against, or sought to restrict,the use of cable gullies or cable protectors to charge electric vehicles; and what was the outcome of those conversations.

Lord Davies of Gower: As part of the Plan for Drivers, the Government has committed to providing guidance for local authorities on the safe and effective use of cross-pavement solutions. This guidance is being drafted and officials have engaged several local authorities as part of this process, including site visits. Local authority feedback will be reflected in the guidance, which we intend to publish in Spring 2024.

Electric Vehicles: Disinformation and Sales

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address any misinformation surrounding electric vehicles; and what consideration they have given to reintroducing incentives for purchasing electric cars.

Lord Davies of Gower: As committed in the Plan for Drivers, the Government has published factual information on electric vehicle (EVs) and EV charging infrastructure, to address misinformation surrounding EVs. Due to the success of the Plug-in Car Grant in driving the growth of the EV market, the Government is now targeting its incentives toward charging infrastructure and grants for harder to transition vehicles. In June 2022, the Government published a public evaluation report, highlighting that while the plug-in car grant was vital in building the early market for EVs, it had since been having less of an effect on demand. The Government continues to provide tax incentives to encourage the uptake of EVs. EVs currently pay zero rates of VED and from 2025, they will continue to have preferential first year rates in comparison to the most polluting vehicles. Favourable rates of company car tax for EVs have been confirmed out to April 2028.

Department of Health and Social Care

Osteoporosis: Screening

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they have taken in response to the Medical Research Council's UK primary care-based ‘Screening for Osteoporosis in Older People’ trial.

Lord Markham: The Government has not taken any specific action in response to the Medical Research Council's primary care-based trial, Screening for Osteoporosis in Older People. However, there are actions that the Government is taking more generally, to support people with osteoporosis and increase early diagnosis.The Government is working to set up 160 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) across the country by March 2024. Some of these CDCs will offer bone density scans which can be used to diagnose or assess patients’ risk of osteoporosis. Our ambition is that 95% of patients needing a diagnostic check will receive it within six weeks, by March 2025.On 24 January 2023, we announced our plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will focus on six major groups of conditions, including musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders such as osteoporosis. We have since published our initial report Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework, which is available on the GOV.UK website, in an online only format. For MSK conditions such as osteoporosis, it sets out our aims to improve services where medical treatment is necessary. Together with NHS England, we will explore supporting the further provision of fracture liaison services. This could include identifying people at risk of further osteoporotic fragility fractures and implementing strategies to reduce the risk of future fractures, including from falls, and mortality.Valuable research work is also being funded by the Department, through the National Institute of Health and Care Research, which has awarded £173 million to research into MSK conditions in the last five years.The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed the evidence to screen for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women in 2019, recommending that a population screening programme should not be introduced. The review identified that there were key areas of uncertainty around the test and treatment and that further research was needed. The research showed that screening all women for osteoporosis does not reduce the number of fractures compared to current care.The UK NSC can be alerted to any new published peer-reviewed evidence which may suggest the case for a new screening programme via its annual call, which will open in July 2024.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Artificial Intelligence: Copyright

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps theyare taking to balance the interests of artificial intelligence (AI) companies with the rights holders in the development of policies and regulations related to AI and copyright laws.

Viscount Camrose: The Government is engaging with the AI and rights holder sectors to develop an approach on AI and copyright that allows both sectors to grow together. We want to work closely with right holders and AI developers to deliver this. Any approach will need to be underpinned by trust and transparency between parties, with greater transparency from AI developers about use of copyrighted material to train AI models and the attribution of outputs having an important role to play. The Government will soon set out further proposals on the way forward.